Harden was relieved the Rockets had survived a furious late assault led by Lopez.

"This is the NBA," Harden said. "You've got guys that can get confidence and make shots, and it's tough to put (the fire) out. Lopez started to get it going early, and they threw the ball to him and he was just scoring. But we got stops when we needed to."

Nets coach Kenny Atkinson meanwhile drew consolation from the return of Lin, making his first appearance since November 2.

"It helps having Jeremy back," Atkinson said. "It just gives us organization. He's a veteran and he had seven assists in 20 minutes, and I think that was big.